There Inc. Officially Launches Online World

Thanks to Yahoo! for hosting the press release announcing the official opening of There Inc.'s online world. This ambitious PC-based virtual world, created "with over $37 million in funding", is aimed at the 'mainstream market' and highlights socializing and playing, as well as world object creation, since: "70 percent of all objects currently for sale in There are created by members and 80 percent of events in There are organized by members." Real-life money can be converted to in-game currency, and during the Beta, "members... voluntarily spent on average of $7 USD per month purchasing There currency and buying in- world goods." There are even some amusing advertising tie-ins: "Digital versions of Nike's AirMax 2003 and Nike's Zoom Celar have been created... members who buy these Nike shoes for their avatars will find... they can run faster."

Comments

So let me get this straight ...

[kalidasa]

If I spend some fraction of a *real* dollar on virtual sneakers, my virtual avatar will virtually run virtually faster? Sounds to me like There Inc. has 1. invented a new way of getting people to pay for advertising - one suspects that the real-world products won't have much if any effect on one's real-world running speed (unless you're an Olympic-class runner, in which case one hopes you'll already know which shoes are best for your job), but the appearance in the virtual world of an increase in speed will "contaminate" the There user's attitude toward the real-world product - and 2. [they have] given themselves a license to print money. After all, the only thing they're selling is a certain configuration of electrons with a remarkably limited use.

Re:So let me get this straight ...

[Anonymous Coward]

[they have] given themselves a license to print money. After all, the only thing they're selling is a certain configuration of electrons with a remarkably limited use.

How have they given themselves a license to print money? They are selling novel entertainment. They make money off of this. You can in turn make back some of the money you've spent.

This is just like buying a physical item, or a piece of software, and re-selling it later when you're done with it.

*sniff*

[Joe the Lesser]

"with over $37 million in funding",

All that money...dropped on a worthless project...

Oh the waste...the waste!

Some further notes on There....

[MilenCent]

There has Will Harvey, the kid who created Music Construction Set way back when, also a C64 computer port of Marble Madness, and Zany Golf and The Immortal for the Amiga, on board. It's nice to see him finally get a new project.

Also there is a guy I've talked to, not in person but online, Jeffery Hunter (I think that was the name), who was once working on WorldsAway, which was an earlier attempt at this kind of virtual world thing.

There itself seems to be inspired (though vastly changed) by the Habitat line of virtual worlds, of which WorldsAway was one. I was rather involved with WorldsAway once upon a time, and they even had a article in Wired magazine once upon a time, but word is that management was clueless and forced out the good guys, of whom Hunter was one. So at least I know it's in good hands.

Hunter was cool. I ran some fairly gonzo events in WorldsAway once upon a time, I mean really weird stuff, blow your freakin' mind stuff, and he helped a little from his seat On-High. I took it for granted back then but now I see that most management would rather not try that kind of oddness. There must be something cool happening there. (Pun not intended.)

Anyway, There. I signed up for the beta but never got the disk in the mail, and didn't hear from them for the longest time. Now they send me e-mail every couple of weeks begging me to buy their program thingies. I'm sorry, but a purchase fee, a subscription fee, *and* people can spend real-world money for in-world advantages?

I'm sure there are people out there who can afford all that but currently I'm not one of them. Also, when I was in WorldsAway I discovered it to be an immense time sink. I don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment to a non-human-female kind of thing at the mo'.

I've been There

[theghost]

There has problems, but it's interesting. It is not the Metaverse, it's a commercial product. It's pay for play, but it's probably about 1/2 game (treasure hunts, buggy racing, hoverboard tricks, trivia contests, etc.), 1/2 3-d chat service (with amazing emotes and an incredible amount of avatar customization).

I have fun in There. I thought it was worthwhile to invest a few $ to play around with the cool hoverboards and other stuff and to log on occasionally to chat, explore, and play with no pressure. It's no Evercrack, but that's part of what i like about it. A good way to think of it is that you are creating your own fun with the tools they provide and those tools are good and getting (mostly) better.

Feel free to ask if you have any more specific questions. I'll try to answer honestly with the good and the bad.